


Hear Me

by RosePetalsAndRain



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: All of SKZ are wizards, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Wizards, Depending on the amount of self control I have, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Gay, Light Angst, Light angst for the plot but nothing too heavy, Like So So So Gay, Love Confessions, M/M, Muteness, Mutual Pining, Selectively Mute Lee Felix, Set in Hogsmeade, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Which lets be real is never much, Wizards, anygays, changlix, ish, mute character, very gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2020-10-28 21:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20785046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosePetalsAndRain/pseuds/RosePetalsAndRain
Summary: What was inexplicably strange was that Changbin could hear nothing. Silence. Not even one word was forming in the stranger’s mind, and all the legilimens could hear was what closely resembled the muffled buzzing of the effects of the muffilato charm.That could only mean one thing...Thank merlin he kept his wand on his person at all times.Slipping a hand into the back pocket of his jeans, changbin retrieved his wand and positioned it between two vials of belladonna, at the back of the stranger’s head before muttering a charm.“Protego Maxima.”Like a strong wave of water had hit the stranger, the blonde stumbled a little and had to steady himself on a shelf for balance.“I...”“Imperious curse. I thought as much,” changbin quipped, walking back out from behind the shelves, rolling his wand between his fingertips.OR, the changlix wizarding AU nobody asked for where Changbin is a legilimens, Felix is selectively mute and also under the imperius curse and the two have to figure out a way to break it... all while falling in love, because why not?





	1. Prologue.

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO! I'm back! And yes, I know I still have the epilogue of Beauty and The Beast to write and I promise that's on its way for you minsung babies out there! I've only just got wifi back in my home so I thought I'd post the first cha[ter of this AU I've been slowly adding to over many bus rides to and from college. Happy reading, I'm actually quite proud of the overall concept so I hope you all like it too! <3
> 
> Quick note for anyone who doesn't know: Changbin is a legilimens, which means he can read minds, but it is involuntary: so he can hear thoughts etc and cannot 'turn off' the ability, in that sense. I hope that cleared that up for any confused readers! 
> 
> Also, text in italics are thoughts- that will definitely be useful to note throughout this story<3

_Just another day in the life of Seo Changbin, _thought said wizard as he arranged assorted jars and bottles of various potions and ingredients on the shelves of his shop, _Seo Imaginative. _Having only had full possession of the small shop for just over a year yet, Changbin was always ultra careful not to break anything and very eager to help every customer.

After graduating from Hogwarts’ school of Witchcraft and Wizardry a little over five years ago, Changbin had immediately declined the idea of further education in favour of starting an apprenticeship in business, earning money at the same speed he gained valuable experience with each passing day and saving religiously for the time he’d finally be able to own his own shop.

Some called it silly, his dream of having a shop. _Aim higher, _they’d tell him. _You’re wasted in that profession. _

Changbin steadfastly ignored them, however; the idea of owning his own shop, decorated by his own hand and full of rare ingredients for various potions and spells for curious wizards and witches alike having enchanted him and kept his mind busy on the nights he spent with no homework to take care of.

As strange as it may have seemed to his classmates, this was what he’d dreamt of for all of his teenage years.

And now, at twenty-three, Changbin he achieved his dream and was currently living it every day, the happiness in his heart only growing every time he got a new customer, or whenever he realised new customers had quickly become friendly regulars in his shop. He was even doing so well now to employ others to work under him, and so Changbin had employed one more full-time worker; the name was Hwang Hyunjin. Fresh out of school at sixteen years old and he, too, was saving for a big dream for his future, one that Changbin was happy to provide payment for. As well as Hyunjin, Changbin had employed one other worker- for the weekends however, as Yang Jeongin, only fifteen years old, still attended Hogwarts nearby and was desperate for a weekend job as work experience. How could Changbin say no to such a cute face?

Humming a little tune to himself, Changbin smiled as he rearranged the newest stock of poison ivy, gillyweed and mandrake root into pretty jars of opaque blue and green, ready for Hyunjin to place them neatly on the shelves later when he came back from his lunch break. Logically, Changbin knew he could just use magic- but his philosophy was that simple tasks done by magic lead to idleness, and Changbin would despair on the day he ever called himself idle.

Changbin was fairly sure his full-time employee was meeting Jeongin for lunch, but he kept his mouth shut and settled for a knowing smile when Hyunjin announced he had to leave for his break as he was _“meeting someone.” _It would certainly be fun to witness this workplace romance if his suspicions were correct.

And, of course, he knew his suspicions were correct, for even if confirmation had not come directly from the mouth of Hyunjin, it had definitely come from his thoughts, which Changbin could hear.

Yes, Seo Changbin the legilimens- Seo Changbin the mind reader. He got that a lot. Some people, especially during his school years, detested him for his gift of legilimency; of which he could not help in the slightest; but as the years passed by he grew to accept it as normal (and it was, for him at least) and found it quite useful in his friendships, for he could always tell if things were wrong if needed and would know how to help; or in some cases, could hear people’s true thoughts and scope out whether they were actually good people or not. Haters or no haters, Changbin wouldn’t change his gift for the world, and often used it to tease his friends when appropriate.

Deciding that he was done with his jar filling for now, the famously small wizard made his way out of the back room of the shop and cheerfully greeted a customer as he untied his black apron and hung it behind the counter.

“What can I help you with today?”

“Oh, I was just looking for some essence of daisyroot,” the stranger said shyly. Smiling, Changbin bustled back out from behind the counter and lead them to the correct shelf, where he left them with the signature _just call if you need anything. _

“Hyung, I’m back!” Hyunjin sang, the cheerful sound seemingly filling every corner of the carefully organised room. Changbin snorted at the influx of thoughts that flooded his mind from Hyunjin’s- once the younger had found out about Changbin being a legilimens, he had made extra effort to make his thoughts sound conversational, as if he were chatting to Changbin through said thoughts; especially when there were customers around. It definitely made life more fun and Changbin was inwardly adoring, and secretly honoured, of the younger’s habit of doing so.

_Changbin hyung!! You’ll **never **guess what happened during my lunch break!~ _

Changbin responded with an amused glance, taking note of Hyunjin’s mussed hair and bright eyes. Oh, even if he wasn’t a legilimens, he wagers he could guess pretty accurately.

_I asked Innie out on a lunch date a few days ago, and he said yes! So today was that day, and... H_yunjin’s thoughts trailed off as distraction took hold of him, something that happened often, and he stared off into space at one of the newly stocked shelves. Changbin coughed loudly, startling the younger out of his daydream, and Hyunjin giggled, eyes crinkling into crescents.

“Oops.”

_Anyways!! So today was that day, and Hyung~~~!! He looked so cute still in his uniform! _

Changbin held up a hand, stopping Hyunjin in his thought-tracks.

“Uniform?” He mouthed over their customer’s head. Hyunjin grinned sheepishly.

_He may have snuck out of school for this... _

Sending the brunette a warning glance of _we’ll continue this in a minute, _Changbin turned back to their customer, rushing slightly in fetching everything they needed and first wrapping them in bubble wrap before placing them in paper bags.

“Thank you, have a great day!” He smiled as they left, waiting until the door had closed properly behind them before turning to Hyunjin like a whirlwind.

“Jeongin did WHAT?”

“....”

“He snuck out of Hogwarts?”

“Well, yeah, Hyung. You know they wouldn’t allow him to leave during lunch. Besides, he used one of the passages and his friends covered for him.”

“I swear... if that kid gets into trouble because of this...” Changbin grumbled lightly. “Maybe limit any future dates to after school hours and the weekends, Jinnie,” he chided gently.

“I will, Hyung. Mostly.” Hyunjin promised earnestly. Changbin rolled his eyes, knowing Hyunjin had no intention of sticking to that promise.

“Now.” Changbin cracked a smile. “Back to telling me everything about this date...”

💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫💫

After a solid hour (no exaggeration either) of Hyunjin alternating between speech (and thought whenever a customer came in) about Jeongin and going into _minute _detail about how soft his lips were- which Changbin 100% did not want nor need to know- Changbin decided that yeah, three-thirty was a reasonable closing time for a quiet shop ran by a wizard with a banging headache and an employee of said wizard who just wanted to see his now-boyfriend again.

With a half-meant warning about getting Jeongin into trouble, Changbin waved Hyunjin off with a sigh of relief at finally having some silence. Don’t get him wrong, he adored the excitable younger; but even when he wasn’t saying anything his thoughts would run rampant and deafening. Usually hearing thoughts 24/7 didn’t bother Changbin, but after having more than his fill of passive aggressive customers and rowdy passers-by, his head felt like it was coming off and he just needed a nap.

Just as he was switching the door sign from “open, please come in” to “sorry, we’re closed!”, a young man ran up to the door and knocked frantically.

Despite the energetic movements, his face was blank and slack, which was very confusing, but Changbin unlocked the door nevertheless to let the man in.

This newcomer was one that Changbin had never seen before; his tousled blonde hair was swept over his forehead and fell slightly into his eyes, brushing his freckle-covered cheeks. His eyes were vacant, his movements jerky... almost as if he were a puppet on strings.

“Can I help you?” Changbin enquired. He could stay open for another while for this customer, he figured. It wouldn’t take long.

“I would like a jar of fwooper’s song, and a vial of polyjuice potion.” The words were robotic and sounded forced and somehow very far away. Changbin’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, both at the combination of supplies and the stranger’s mannerisms but he walked over to the back shelves anyway, selecting the requested supplies before walking slowly behind another shelf, unseen by the stranger.

For a minute he stood and strained his mind, listening for any thoughts coming from the stranger.

What was inexplicably strange was that he could hear nothing. Silence. Not even one word was forming in the stranger’s mind, and all Changbin could hear was the familiar buzzing of when somebody cast the _muffilato _charm to muffle sound.

That could only mean one thing...

Thank merlin he kept his wand on his person at all times.

Slipping a hand into the back pocket of his jeans, Changbin retrieved his wand and positioned it between two vials of belladonna, at the back of the stranger’s head before muttering a charm.

_“Protego Maxima.”_

Like a strong wave of water had hit the stranger, the blonde stumbled a little and had to steady himself on a shelf for balance.

“I...”

“Imperious curse. I thought as much,” Changbin quipped, walking back out from behind the shelves, rolling his wand between his fingertips. “Do you know where you are?”

The stranger said nothing, but stared around in stark surprise at the shop and at Changbin, looking quite frankly terrified.

“That counter curse won’t hold off for long. I’d say only an hour, give or take,” Changbin continued. “It can only be undone by your caster.”

_Oh my god,_ the stranger thought, and this time his voice was fully present, and honestly, Changbin felt a little floored at how deep it was- and he usually found that people's thoughtstreams had slightly higher pitches than their speaking voices. Wow.

Additionally, now that the stranger was now fully present, his thoughts were back at full speed, bringing Changbin’s headache back at full force.

_Oh my god... was I under the imperius curse? What about Chan and Jisung? Where are they? Do they know where I am? Are they okay? How long was I under the curse for?- _

“Hey, hey, calm down,” Changbin took a step towards the freckled stranger, wincing when he flinched away from him. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

“Who are you?” The stranger whispered, almost inaudible. The words sounded like they took a lot of effort to force out.

“Seo Changbin, pleased to meet you. You’re currently in Hogsmeade, inside my shop called ‘Seo Imaginative’, a shop for rare potion supplies. You were under the imperius curse, yes, but I don’t know who cast it. I don’t know where Chan and Jisung are, whoever they may be, but I can help you contact them if you’ll let me.”

The blonde blinked.

“I’m a legilimens.” Best get that part out of the way firsthand.

To Changbin’s immense surprise, there was no negative follow up within the thoughts of this freckled being, just innocent surprise and a small smile and nod. He must truly be a pure soul if he didn’t think anything bad about his gift even for a second.

_'I’m... Lee Felix. Please. I need to contact Jisung and chan_,' he- _Felix- _tilted his face up to meet Changbin’s gaze, pleading with his eyes and mouthing a silent 'please' with his mouth.

“Of course. Do you know where they are?”

Felix thought for a moment. '_The last time I knew of anything, I was... on my way to Chan’s, were he and Jisung were waiting for me- they’re my best friends, by the way. Bang Chan and Han Jisung.'_

“Do you know the address? I could floo you there.”

Felix nodded in confirmation, and allowed Changbin to lead him to the fireplace within the wall behind the till.

“You know what to do,” Changbin said, and Felix nodded, accepting the handful of floo powder the raven haired wizard presented him with.

“Han Abbey,” Felix murmured, and Changbin wouldn’t even be surprised if something went wrong with how quiet and strained the name came out.

Regardless, Felix disappeared in a mass of green flames; the last thought Changbin being able to hear from him as he left were the words '_thank you.' _

“Well, I guess that’s that then,” Changbin concluded about that very fleeting visit. Maybe now he could have that nap for his headache.

He was about to lock up once more and head upstairs to his home when he hesitated. What if Felix came back?

The chances were minimal, but... Changbin had a feeling.

“Ugh.”

Sighing again, Changbin picked up the nearest parchment he could find and sat at the counter where his quill and ink sat ready to be used.

“If you’ve returned, I am upstairs. Spare key on the farthest shelf in the back room.”

That would at least set his mind at ease for the poor boy.

Using a permanent sticking charm to attach the parchment to the wall just by the fireplace- Felix couldn’t miss it even if he tried if he did floo back in- Changbin checked that the shop door was locked one more time before heading upstairs, intent on downing a glass of water and hopefully sleeping off the almost blinding pain in his head.

It didn’t even occur to him, as of yet, to question why the boy had hardly actually spoken aloud.


	2. Sleep? Whomst?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix returns and Changbin makes a deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YEE we’re back with another chapter!! I have quite a bit written after this one but we’ll have to see when the next update is as I don’t know how long I’m going to make each chapter. Nevertheless, enjoy sweethearts! <3 
> 
> QUICK NOTE FOR READING: the italics surrounded by ‘ are felix’s thoughts- just to make that clear. Reminder that he’s selectively mute so Changbin communicates with him by reading his thoughts and replying!

Not even an hour later, Felix was back. 

“Changbin-ssi?” 

Changbin stirred, blinking his eyes open to find that his headache had- blissfully- lessened quite a bit, and was now quite bearable again. 

“Felix?” 

Felix giggled a little at the sight of a sleep-mussed Changbin; hair sticking up in every direction and eyes cutely squinting. 

“You’re back?” 

‘ _Yeah_ ...’ Felix shifted from foot to foot as Changbin sat up in bed, the duvet pooling around his waist like a cocoon. ‘ _Why are you sleeping at five o’clock in the evening_?’

Changbin blinked. He really wasn’t going to give a reason for coming back? 

“I had a headache. How come you’re back?” 

Suddenly bashful , Felix played with his fingers and avoided Changbin’s gaze. Changbin- who was nothing if not kind- patted the mattress and motioned for Felix to sit, which he (gingerly) did once changbin scooted over a little. 

“I...” Felix’s words were the bare minimum, but his thoughts were racing at full speed. Changbin felt slightly dizzy trying to keep up with them. 

“You don’t have to say anything. Just think it instead.” 

A surprised noise escaped Felix’s brain as the freckled blond looked up and flashed an immensely grateful smile at the elder before he properly formed a coherent sentence amongst his thoughts. 

‘_I didn’t know where to come, but you seemed to know what to do about the curse, so I guess I panicked_.’

“Hey, that’s okay. I’m always here to help,” Changbin offered comfort, knowing it worked when Felix sat up a little straighter. 

_‘I don’t often talk much out loud... I’m selectively mute_.’

“Well, good thing I’m a legilimens and can hear your thoughts without you having to voice them,” Changbin reminded him gently. “But you still haven’t fully explained why you’re here.” 

‘_Well... my friends are Chan and Jisung, as you know... but Chan’s speciality is potions and he isn’t great at charms or spells... and Jisung is a squib. Neither of them would be able to help fend off my imperius curse_.’

“ Ah,” understanding began to dawn on Changbin, “and you were hoping I’d help you somehow?” 

Felix nodded minutely. 

Silent for a minute, Changbin weighed the pros and cons. Of course, he wasn’t going to just leave the poor wizard to get bent against his own will to commit whichever undoubtedly dark things the wizard who cast the spell wanted him to. But how many times a day would Changbin have to renew the charm? He knew he was a particularly powerful wizard, yes, to be able to actually fend off an  imperius curse-  but the extent of it was unknown. 

So, pros? Unknown, really. 

Cons? Also unknown. 

Fair play. Changbin was willing to help. 

Grabbing his circular, wire-rimmed glasses from his nightstand and slipping them on, the dark haired wizard stretched like a cat before throwing the duvet aside and standing, internally thanking merlin that this time he’d gone to sleep with lounge pants and an oversized T-shirt on and not just in his underwear like he sometimes did. 

‘_Please_?’  Felix’s thoughts were becoming frantic, expecting Changbin to flat out reject him. _‘_ _I can work for you for free. I’ll help around the shop, find food myself, you won’t even know I’m here... just, please. Don’t let me be taken by that wizard again. Please, Changbin-_‘

“Oh, quit fussing,” Changbin chided him. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I don’t know the extent of my own magic against the curse yet, so tomorrow I’m closing the shop all day so we can see how many times a day I have to renew the charm against it. Luckily for you, i have a spare room here you can stay in if it turns out that I’ll need to renew it during the night. Yes, you can work for me, but don’t be silly, I’m not going to let you starve and fend for yourself.” 

Felix’s thoughts  literally  scratched to a stop. 

‘_What_?’

“You heard me correctly.” 

‘_Oh merlin, thank you so much, you have no idea_-‘

“I think I have a pretty good idea, don’t you worry.” Changbin grinned. “How about I’ll show you the spare room and then I’m going back to bed to sleep off the rest of this headache.” 

‘_Okay. Thank you, changbin-ssi_.’ 

“Just Changbin. Or Hyung,” Changbin waved the formalities off. They made him feel old. “Something tells me we’re going to be getting a lot closer while we figure out who cursed you.” 

‘_Okay... Changbin hyung_.’

“Now. Let’s go and I’ll show you your room.” 

Grabbing a hoodie to shrug on over his T-shirt, seeing as the autumn weather made the air crisp enough to nip at your skin a bit, Changbin led Felix over to the next room across, where there was a single mattress on the floor surrounded by empty or half full cardboard boxes. Changbin had no shame in the mess and simply waved his wand to tidy away the mess. 

“I don’t have a spare bed frame yet but I can definitely go and get one tomorrow or the day after that,” Changbin offered. “Or you could take my bed for tonight if you’d be more comfortable.” 

‘_Oh no, this is fine. Thank you so much_,’  Felix thought gratefully. ‘ And... thank you for letting me think instead of forcing me into being verbal. That alone means so much more than you could ever know.’

“No need to thank me, kid. It’s what anyone decent would do.” 

‘_Well, I should think that there are n-_‘

Felix’s thoughts trailed off and he suddenly became stiff and still, like a porcelain doll as his eyes lost conscious life and he crumpled and dropped to the floor like a rag doll. 

Changbin’s head was back to being full of that white noise he had heard from Felix’s mind when he first entered the shop, and he looked at the clock on his bedside in mild annoyance. 

“About an hour. I was right,” he countered, strolling over to his bed and aiming his wand back at the inanimate wizard on the floor. 

“Protego maxima,” he waved his wand and watched as Felix immediately “woke” up from the curse, life returning to his eyes- which immediately filled with tears. 

“Hey, Hey, it’s okay,” Changbin rushed to soothe the younger, “You didn’t do anything. It was probably terrifying for you, but that’s why I’m here now, hmm? I won’t let whichever wizard did that to you take your will prisoner again.” 

Felix stared up at him, eyes bright and teary as he hugged himself tightly. Blinking rapidly, it was obvious to Changbin that he was trying (and failing horribly) to not cry in front of him. 

“Err... do you need some privacy? Or.. a hug? I’m not good with crying people,” Changbin offered nervously, gasping quietly when the younger instantly pressed up against him, curling up against his chest in a ball despite being stood up. 

“Okay, hugs it is,” Changbin led the taller over to the mattress on the floor and sat on it, pulling Felix with him onto the soft rectangle of springs and foam. “It’s okay, let it all out.” 

His only response was small sniffles and shaky breaths as Felix tried to reign in his emotions. It had been a long day. 

‘_I’m literally possessed by a dark wizard and I don’t even know who it is,’ _ Felix thought_. ‘_ _It terrifies me._’

“We’re going to find them,” Changbin promised. “We’ll reverse the curse.” 

Felix slipped his arms around Changbin for a moment, holding him back tightly, before he let go and wiggled away. 

‘_Sorry about that._’

“Hey, it’s fine. I’ll set alarms to make sure i charm you a few minutes before the curse sets back in, if possible- but I’m warning you now that you might need to let it set in again for me to be able to repel it again.” 

Felix nodded, staring at his hands. ‘ _Thank you_.’

“No problem. Now I’m going to back to napping, if I’m not awake in fifty minutes then wake me up so I can be ready to charm again.”

‘_Okay. Sleep well, Changbin.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, have an amazing day! 
> 
> (Stream double knot or you’re a COWARD) 
> 
> ((If there are any mistakes I’m posting from my phone from the first time so like y’all can still come for my ass but be gentle)) 
> 
> Kudos and comments keep me motivated!


	3. What in sleep deprivation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sleepy boi hours open because these two need to be awake every goddamn hour yeet!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE BACK for feeding time. come get y'all juice 
> 
> if you count juice as a smol filler chapter before things start picking up and getting pretty G A Y

Hard as he may have tried, it was impossible for Changbin to not feel a little irritated as he was woken for the second time, when the allotted fifty minutes had passed. He was quick to shake away the irritation, though, when he remembered that he’d been woken by Felix to help him with the imperius curse. Forget irritation: this was first priority. 

At least his headache had disappeared now. 

_'How’s your head?' _Felix inquired. 

“Much better now. Thank you.” He needed a minute to wake up properly. 

“Now. Im going to try something, Felix. I’ll Protego the curse away now, and see if it lasts through another hour or if I really do just need to renew it on the hour, every hour. Is that okay?” 

Felix nodded mutely, although his thoughts clearly stated his consent in verbal. If you could call that verbal in this circumstance. 

“Okay. Protego maxima.” 

Obviously, nothing happened, so Changbin stifled another yawn as he turned around, beckoning for Felix to follow him. “I’m hungry. I’ll make some food.”

As if on cue, Felix’s stomach rumbled and the younger giggled quietly at the intrusion of involuntary noise, following willingly as Changbin stumbled down one staircase into the kitchen. 

Now is probably a good time to mention that ‘Seo Imaginative’ was a one-storey shop, with two floors above it that Changbin inhabited personally. On the first floor above the shop was a small study, lounge and kitchen, whereas on the topmost floor were two bedrooms and a bathroom. Changbin was very proud of snagging this building for both his living quarters as well as his shop. 

“Well. I, for one, am too tired to commit to cooking anything proper right now so how do you feel about instant noodles?” 

Felix smiled. '_I love instant noodles.'_

Changbin grinned back in response and wordlessly set to making noodles, filling a pan with water and setting it onto the stove. 

“Some people question why I don’t just use magic for day to day tasks,” Changbin explained at Felix’s surprised questioning thoughts. “But I feel like it can lead to laziness. And besides, actually doing things instead of standing waving a wand around is much more fun.” 

Making a tiny sound of agreement in his throat- so quiet Changbin almost missed it- Felix nodded again, otherwise outwardly silent as he awkwardly hovered in he doorway. 

“Felix, please. Sit down and make yourself comfortable; you said you’ll be staying here until we find a way to break this curse, so don’t worry about the initial politeness. Get comfy.” 

Doubt flitted across the younger’s features but he sat down nevertheless, albeit in obvious discomfort. 

Honestly, Changbin’s heart went out to the freckled blond. He knew a little about selective muteness; knew that it was primarily caused by forms of social anxiety and that Felix would be literally unable to speak in certain situations; and under no situations would be ever try to force words from the younger. The fact that the younger was already trusting Changbin so much after only two hours was immense; but he knew that for Felix in particular, getting comfortable like this would take some time. 

“I know it’s going to be really hard for you to adjust, Felix,” Changbin murmured, “but I think you’re doing amazing already.” 

With his back turned to the younger as he focused on boiling the water for their noodles, Changbin missed the blush decorating Felix’s cheeks cutely- but he didn’t miss the steady stream of appreciative and grateful thoughts thanking him for his kindness. 

“It’s going to be okay, Felix. We’ll figure this out, I promise.” 

_'Thank you, Changbin.' _

✨✨✨

It took a while, but eventually the two settled into a routine that night, setting alarms for a minute or two before every hour passed so that the two wizards could awaken before Felix got re-possessed by the imperius curse. 

It was a lot of hassle, especially at night, but Changbin couldn’t find it within him to mind getting up every hour to cast the same charm on the freckled blonde. Not when every time without fail, he’d receive the same, genuine, grateful smile and thought-stream. 

It was morning, and as promised, Changbin had left the shop closed for the day to give Felix time to try and settle in a little before being bombarded with customers and the like as well as being cursed like this. 

_'Morning, Changbin Hyung,' _Felix thought as he walked shyly into the kitchen, where Changbin was sat at the table, tiredly sipping on a mug of tea as he tried to keep his heavy eyes open. 

“Morning, Felix.” Changbin cracked a sleepy grin. “Did you sleep well? Despite having to wake up every hour?” 

Felix grinned back just as tiredlyas his thoughts betrayed what he would have said out loud. (For that was a great weakness of thoughts, and that is that they tend to be the most brutally honest thing a legilemens will ever hear, as they always come before the logic of sorting out what will actually come out of your mouth.) 

_'Absolutely zero sleep— no... I mean, yes. I slept well.' _

That made Changbin bark out a syllable of laughter. “Your thoughts betrayed you already.” 

Felix looked scandalised at himself as he slapped his head with the palm of his hand. '_Whoops?' _

“It must be really hard to sleep, what with everything that’s happening to you right now,” Changbin sympathised, subtly letting the freckled boy know that he understood. “It’s terrifying.” 

Felix nodded silently in response, his thoughts agreeing in chorus in his mind. 

“I hope you catch up on your sleep soon.” 

_'Thank you.' _

“Now!” Changbin stood and clapped once, loudly. “I’m starving. Let’s eat and then we can spend the morning trying to do something about your situation.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hyunjin, Jeongin, Chan and Jisung are introduced next chapter (I think!) so look forward to that! Hope you have a great daynight and thank you for reading. Much love <3 the next chapter will be up very soon! 
> 
> Kudos and comments make my heart do happy dances so leave some if you want to see me actually being energetic in some form of way for once!


	4. Meet the Employees because here, parents Do Not Exist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So uhhhh changlix looking awfully close today 😳😳

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMAO WE BACK WITH ANOTHER CHAPTER THAT I WROTE OVER MANY BUS JOURNEYS BIT BY BIT

The time passed quickly and before either of the two were aware of it, evening had fallen, cloaking the small town of hogsmeade in velvety darkness as the first signs of dew started appearing, making way for the frost the next morning. 

Needless to say, it had been a strange day for both Changbin and Felix. 

In order for Changbin to be able to stave away the curse on Felix, Felix had to let the imperius curse take him over every hour- a terrifying experience for the younger, who would cry after every time it happened. Changbin didn’t blame him one bit- having to physically let a dark wizard possess you every hour with no idea whether Changbin’s next charm would keep working on him was petrifying. 

Nevertheless, Changbin remade the charm on Felix on the dot of every hour that had passed without fail, and slowly began to learn what would comfort the younger in his bouts of terror. They were getting somewhere- it wasn’t progress just yet, but slowly, a routine was making itself clear. 

“I’ll reopen the shop tomorrow,” Changbin explained after Felix had calmed down in the most recent time. “Obviously, I’ll have to tell hyunjin and Jeongin what’s happening so they’re not suspicious and also will know not to tell anyone else about it.” 

Felix nodded. 

“Every hour you just come through into the back room where I’ll join you to recast the spell and we’ll stay there until you’re okay to come back out and resume being about the shop.”

‘ _That’s fine._’

Changbin smiled. “You’re doing amazing, Lix.” 

Felix choked a little.  ‘_Lix_?’ 

Frowning a little, Changbin backtracked. “Yeah, Lix. Unless you don’t want me to call you that-“

‘ _No_!!’  Felix’s face was panicked as he, too, backtracked.  _‘Feel free... it just surprised me.’_

*******

It should have occurred to Changbin already that this whole curse ordeal would not be smooth sailing, nor would it follow a particular schedule, as much as both wizards would have wanted it to. At least renewing the repelling charm was still keeping regularity, though- which was the most important thing. 

Originally, Changbin had planned on sitting Hyunjin and Jeongin down before opening times- he had requested they come in half an hour earlier today for the purpose of explanation- and let them know what was going on, why it was happening (as far as they knew, anyway) and introduce them to Felix. 

But what he had completely missed in his planning was that half an hour earlier meant right after when he was meant to renew Felix’s repelling charm. After casting it for the first time on the freckled blond at exactly 4:42 pm, he had to then renew it on the dot of 5:42, 6:42, 7:42... You get the idea. So at 8:42 in the morning, a half-asleep Felix had been re-possessed by the imperius charm and had dropped to the floor like a rag doll, motionless and blank. It had honestly terrified Changbin, seeing the younger so helpless and hearing his string of thought completely diminish to leave behind an unanimated, corpse-like body. 

“Protego maxima.” 

Sitting on the floor beside Felix, changbin waited a couple, painstaking seconds for the life to return to his eyes before drawing the younger into his arms. 

In the past day and a bit he had come to learn that Felix calmed down a lot faster, and gained immense comfort from hugs. And who was he to deny comfort and hugs? 

“I hate this,” were the first words that spilled from Felix’s lips a single tear slipped down his cheek. “I hate it so much.” 

Changbin tried not to choke at the younger’s sudden words- they were literally the first thing the younger had said apart from the choked out words he had uttered a couple of days ago- and instead tightened his arms around the boy, rubbing soothing circles into his back. 

“I know, Lixie. We’re going to get to the bottom of this, I promise.” 

Felix’s breathing stuttered for a second before he hesitated. Changbin huffed, reading the boy’s thoughts clearly and pulling him into his lap. 

“Coward.” 

Felix let out a tiny, breathy laugh.  _‘M not_.’ 

“Hmmmmm.” 

“Hyung?— oh!” Hyunjin peeked around the door, obviously only expecting Changbin to be in the back room before his eyes landed on Felix too, straddling his lap. The position probably looked compromising, but the irony was that it was the most innocent thing ever. 

Felix drew in a sharp breath, and Changbin felt rather than heard his heart rate and thought process immediately spike. 

“Just a minute, Jinnie, could you wait out in the shop for a second?” Changbin took control at once before anything got too much for Felix and also before Hyunjin started making witty comments. They were funny, but he needed to know the situation first. “Oh, Jeongin’s just arrived, too.” 

Hyunjin’s eyes lit up and he raced back outside. 

“Disgusting,” Changbin commented. “They’d better only stick to making out at the very most or I’ll have to separate them.” 

‘ _They’re dating?’_

“Yes, just recently started,” Changbin filled him in. “The one who just came in was Hyunjin, and my other employee is called Jeongin. He still goes to Hogwarts, in his last year there, and works part time.” 

Felix hummed lightly, thoughts processing Changbin’s words. The elder didn’t bother rushing him or speaking just yet, simply relishing in the last moments of silence before the work day would begin. 

“... Felix, obviously we have to tell them about the curse, but would you want me to tell them you’re selectively mute too? Or would you rather I didn’t mention it at all, or just say that you’re very quiet?” 

Felix hummed again, thinking it through.  ‘_Could you just tell them I’m selectively mute? It’s probably just easier that way... but if you think they’ll react badly then please just tell them I’m quiet.’ _

“Ah, no, Lix,” Changbin reassured the freckled wizard cheerfully, “Hyunjin And Jeongin are very kind and understanding, there’ll be no problems.” 

Felix nodded as he got up off Changbin. 

‘ We’d best go before the shop opens and we run out of time to tell them.’ 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” 

Another nod. 

“Then let’s go.” 

****

Contrary to Changbin’s fears of walking in on the newly boyfriend-ed couple making out, the two were merely embracing; foreheads touching as they talked quietly and thumbs rubbed comforting circles into each other’s waists or backs. 

Changbin chuckled as Felix’s head immediately filled with screams of “CUTE” and the couple in question remained oblivious. 

He waited one, two, three seconds. 

“HELLO LOVEBIRDS!” Changbin positively  screeched,  waving his hands around with great energy and speed and causing the couple in question to spring apart, Hyunjin screaming aloud and Jeongin’s hands flying to his heart. 

“ Merlin,  Changbin, what was that for?” Hyunjin raised his voice a little, still on a scared high. 

“Eh. It’s funnier to do things the unexpected way than be predictable,” Changbin allowed himself a tiny chuckle. “Ok. I hear your questions already, let me cut straight to the chase.”

Hyunjin nodded; Jeongin making a sound of agreement as their thoughts raced around each other like smoke wisps. 

“This is Felix. He came into the shop a little after you left the other day, Hyunjin, possessed by an imperius curse. We don’t know the wizard who did it. He’s staying here and I have to charm him every hour otherwise the curse takes him over again.”

He stopped talking for a second before Felix moved in his peripheral vision, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. 

“I should also tell you that he’s selectively mute.” 

Hyunjin made a little “Oh” sound at this, but otherwise neither boy reacted at all. 

Felix wasn’t sure whether this was a good or bad thing. 

Oh, wait, perhaps he spoke too soon- 

“Don’t feel pressured to try and talk, Felix!” Jeongin smiled, eyes crinkling and making Felix’s heart positively  melt.  “If there’s anything we can do to make you feel more comfortable, let Changbin hyung know and we’ll try our best!” 

Felix opened his mouth and closed it again, settling for a genuine smile and grateful nod. 

Changbin smiled, intensely proud of his two employees for handling it so well.

“Okay. Now that we’ve got that part explained, we need to open shop,” he took charge, motioning to the door. “It’s almost opening time.” 

“You got it, chief,” Hyunjin teased, eyes sparkling as he decided to skip, for some reason, over to the door, which he unlocked and turned the sign hanging on the glass from “sorry, we’re closed” to “open, welcome!” 

“Ok, Felix, you know what you’ll be doing but if it gets too much or you want a break, you know where the back room is,” Changbin pulled the younger aside for a second, holding him by the upper arms and looking him dead in the eyes. The... deep, brown eyes that were so dark his irises almost melted into his pupils- 

‘ _You good, hyung?_’ 

Changbin startled and shook himself mentally. “Yeah. Never better.” he let go of Felix and walked towards the counter.  Get a hold of yourself, Seo.  “Hey, Innie, could you prepare the vials for the new stock we have arriving today?” 

Jeongin disappeared into the storage cupboard with a happy chorus of “of course, hyungie,” leaving Hyunjin staring after him like he had hung the moon and stars himself. 

“Yah,” Changbin teased him, “do your job and I might let you both have an extra break sometime today.” 

Hyunjin’s eyes lit up and he scurried away to stand behind the counter, opening the till and readying things for the day ahead. 

“Right, Felix, is there anything you’re unclear on for today? There’ll always be one of us to help with anything you’re struggling or forgetful about.” 

‘ _Thanks, hyung. I think I remember everything.’ _

“Okay, good. You got this.” 

Felix grinned at the elder as he walked over to the back shelves, beginning to sort through the contents and make sure everything was presented face-forward and where it should be. Nodding to himself in approval, Changbin released a long exhale and internally prepared himself for a long day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Abrupt ending? ABSOLUTELY! Regrets? Absolutely none!!! 
> 
> Changbin: if you two mfs can work well u can have makeout time in the afternoon ok got it fuckers 
> 
> Honestly? Idk when the next update will be. This is all I have for now- I write lil bits on bus journeys to and from college but I’m on autumn break right now so we’ll see! Hopefully another should be up soon. As changlix start to catch feelings things will soon get SPICY- and the twist I have planned is absolutely chefs kiss 
> 
> Anyway thank you for reading! Have an amazing day/night and stay hydrated! Leave a comment if you wanna <3


	5. WE BACK +two more additions ;)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WE BACK AFTER AN IMPROMPTU BREAK WHERE I FORGOT TO UPDATE LMAO IM SORRY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjooooooy-! Here's a lil recap for those of you who are coming back to this after a little while. 
> 
> So far, Felix, who is mute until comfortable and trusting, was possessed by the imperius curse by an unknown dark wizard and had wandered into Changbin's shop. Changbin, a very powerful yet peaceful wizard and legilimens (he can read minds), managed to charm the younger so that he regained consciousness but the charm has to be re-cast every hour before the curse takes hold of Felix again. Last chapter we introduced our freckled baby to Hyunjin and Jeongin, Changbin's employees, and our honeys are all getting along well so far :) 
> 
> Speech written in italics are thoughts- most likely Felix's, but it will be clear whose they are either way!

Just _ how _ was it possible for time to pass so slowly, yet so quickly?

It felt like Changbin had had to re-cast the protego charm on Felix hundreds of times every five minutes today, and it wasn't even closing time yet. It was hard to avoid customers every hour and not seem suspicious, though Changbin was more worried about Felix than any potential customers questioning his schedules.

And as if that wasn't enough, Changbin's two dearly beloved employees were clearly entering their honeymoon phase, as the only thing running through both of their thoughts was each other, and very little else. On another day Changbin would coo; finding it all very cute and even tease the two about it until they blushed and begged him to stop, but today was already quite stressful, so the eldest wizard thanked his past self for his promise of an extra break.

"Okay, you two," he spoke up sternly. "I'm giving you twenty minutes to get out of here and get those feelings out of your system, and when you come back I want less of those thoughts. Got it?" Though his voice was firm, his twinkling eyes gave away the fondness behind it.

Hyunjin grinned. "Out of our system, hyung?" he cackled, and Changbin whacked him upside the head.

"Don't you dare, Hwang Hyunjin, Innie is still in school, for Merlin's sake," Changbin fake-grumbled. "Go make out or something."

"Oh, gladly!" Hyunjin sang graciously, grabbing Jeongin's hand and dragging him- though the youngest was in no way unwilling- out of the shop. Felix giggled, the sound high in pitch and musical as Changbin pretended to flop over the countertop next to the till.

_ 'Were their thoughts really that bad?' _

"Oh, not really," Changbin admitted. "It's just fun to tease them. I like being the annoying boss who's like a best friend."

' _ Cute,'  _ Felix thought before he could stop himself, and then realised his mistake as Changbin started smirking, standing up straight.

"Oh? What was that, Felix? Does little Lixie think I'm cute?" he crooned, advancing on the younger and pinching his cheeks as he puckered his own lips in a scrunchy pout.

Felix, against his will, started laughing louder as he tried to escape the elder's hands and face that was, at present, dangerously close to his own.

"Bully," he coughed out through heaving pants of mirth, voice cracking from rarely using it at all but still clearly heard.

"Only for people who think I'm cute," Changbin, like a dog with a bone, refused to let the topic go, utterly triumphant over this little nugget of thought he had captured.

' _ You're not cute, you're a bully, _ ' Felix pretended to sniff in disdain.

"A cute bully," Changbin fluttered his eyelashes but let Felix's face go. "Disadvantage of knowing me: those tiny details never get past me!" he crowed.

Felix rolled his eyes.  _ 'I figured.' _

The fireplace suddenly roared to life, coming to the two boys' notice as green flames soared into the air out of nowhere and, lo and behold, out stepped two men of whom Changbin had never laid eyes on before. One average height, blonde-haired and wearing a chain around his neck whilst the other was smaller, brunet and had a pair of headphones resting around his shoulders, both had Changbin reeling slightly in confusion before Felix reacted.

The said boy gasped loudly and sprinted for the fireplace, immediately being caught up in the embrace of the brunet whilst the blonde waited patiently for his turn. Changbin, on the other hand, watched the exchange mutely, shocked out of his mind at the two sudden new additions.

"Lixie!" the brunet sighed, hooking his chin over Felix's shoulder and clinging to him. "It's only been two days, but it's been two days too long!"

"I know," Felix replied, and Changbin jumped a little at the strength of Felix's voice. Those two words alone were spoken much more naturally and confident than the few words he had ever heard him speak to himself. "I've missed you both."

"We miss you too, Felix, do you know when you'll be coming back?" the blond interjected, sounding sad.

"I'm not sure... when we get this curse off me for real, as long as Changbin doesn't kick me out before that," Felix mulled, turning to face Changbin whilst simultaneously pulling back from his hug with the brunet boy. The two strangers blinked, as if realising for the first time that Changbin was also in the room with them, and their faces lit up in bright beams at once.

"So you're Changbin? The wizard letting Felix stay with you whilst he's cursed?" the blond advanced on Changbin, seemingly towering over him despite only being a little taller.

"That's me," Changbin spoke up, feeling a tiny bit intimidated. But he'd never admit that, shut up.

"I'm Chan! Thank you so much for everything you've done so far," the blond said, thrusting forward a hand for Changbin to shake, which he did with a strong hand. First impressions, everybody. "Over there is Jisung."

"Changbin," Changbin introduced himself needlessly, "and it's completely fine. I'm determined to find the wizard who cursed Felix in the first place so they can remove it."

"So," the brunet raised his voice to be heard by the whole room but still ended up sounding tiny and shy. "What exactly is it that you're doing? ... to help Felix, I mean."

"Oh," Changbin thought for a moment, "well, the curse, being an unforgiveable, is very strong, so we have to counter it every hour or else Felix gets re-possessed. Apart from that, we have yet to start tracking the wizard down, but once Felix is properly comfortable with all these changes, I'll..." he trailed off before speaking directly to Felix. "I'll have to try and access your memories from right before the curse was cast, so we know your surroundings and maybe even get a glimpse of the wizard or witch that cast it... but only when you're comfortable. I don't want this to be any more traumatic than it is right now."

"Ok, good, so there's a plan, at least," Chan said, mostly to himself.

"Lixie?" Jisung spoke up again, eyes round and sparkling. "When do you next need to be re-charmed?"

Felix glanced at his watch, before silently pointing at the time to show Jisung, who made a little 'ahh' sound of understanding and nodded.

"Ten minutes," he supplied to Chan, who had been too far away to see.

"Ten minutes," Chan repeated under his breath. "Oh my god." he strode over to Felix and engulfed him in a huge hug, practically swallowing the freckled boy in his arms. "You don't deserve any of this, bub."

Felix chuckled weakly. "Stop, Chan," he tried. "You'll make me cry and it'll be very embarrassing for everybody."

The bell rang with a jingle as a new customer entered, barely sparing a single glance for the emotional embrace and small group consisting of the four huddled at the fireplace as they made a beeline for a particular shelf, obviously knowing what they were here for. Changbin internally sighed with relief that they apparently wouldn't be needing his help this time.

Chan grinned back at Changbin. "I don't plan on letting Felix go any time soon, so I'll let him go in... eight minutes, let's say. We've missed out on two days' worth of cuddles."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIHI we back with changlix mute wizard curse fluff au!!! Things are going to get Intense soon but first... I wanna just develop Changlix's relationship. It will make the twist I'm planning all the better ;)) 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you wanna, they make me so happy and keep me motivated!
> 
> Scream at me on twitter or Instagram, (I'm a tech whizz as you can tell and have no idea how to link so here)   
twt: Accio_whiskers  
ig: btsmemes_straykids


	6. CHAPTER SIX ITS BEEN A WHILE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ITS BEEN A WHILE BUT IM BACK HELLO LOVELIES HOW ARE WE ALL ON THIS FINE DAY LETS GET SOME CHANGLIX FLUFF AND PROTECTIVE FRIENDS YEEYEE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK YES SO QUICK REMINDER OF THE PLOT BECAUSE IT'S BEEN. TOO LONG. Felix is selectively mute, changbin is a legilimens and can read minds. Felix is under the impreius curse and changbin had to charm him every hour to stave it off. chan and jisung just turned up and theyre catching up on Felix hugs bc hes been mia with changbin for the last couple of days. also jeongin and hyunjin are a couple and work for changbin :DD NOW LETS GOOOOO 
> 
> ALSO: remember, Felix's THOUGHTS are marked with '...' instead of "..." and are also in italics, to avoid confusion!

Changbin could  _ feel  _ the love radiating from the two, reinforcing the loving thoughts running through each boys' heads at that moment, so Changbin supposed letting them have the back room for their hugs for a while wouldn't be sacrificing much, would it? Besides, they couldn't just stay in the main part of the shop.

"Uhh... there's actually a back room, if you guys wanna continue this in there," Changbin motioned to the door leading into it. "Yanno, privacy and all that. I'll come back in around seven, eight minutes for Felix."

"Oh! Thank you," Chan beamed, lips turning heart-shaped as he shuffled himself and Felix in the direction of the room as Jisung followed happily. Changbin puffed out a bubble of laughter watching them because  _ wow _ , they were really close. It was refreshing to see friends as close as those three...

"Ah, yes! Hello, that will be seven sickles, please," Changbin put on his professional facade and smiled at the customer, rushing behind the counter and opening the till to receive the payment and give change. Fifteen minutes before Jeongin and Hyunjin returned, and roughly six before he had to re-charm Felix, and... he had no idea what Chan and Jisung were going to do now that they were here. Thinking back, Changbin was sure Felix had mentioned one of them being a squib... but which one was it?

"Thank you! Have a great day," Changbin bade farewell to the customer before sitting on the little stool positioned behind the counter, staring out at the fairy light-lined shelves of vials and bottles. Absent-mindedly tapping on the surface with his fingertips, the wizard allowed himself to stare off into space for a while, given that the shop was empty; getting lost in his thoughts for a while. It wasn't until his eyes wandered over to the wall opposite him that he saw the time on the clock hung up and jumped out of his skin, realising he had less than a minute until he was due to help Felix again.

Jumping to his feet and knocking the stool over in his wake, Changbin threw the door to the back room open and rushed inside, being greeted by the sight of an (adorably soft) three-way cuddle pile on the floor, in which Felix was buried completely by his two best friends' affection. Changbin honestly felt bad for interrupting them as he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Lix, we... we have less than a minute."

Fear inevitably leapt into Felix's eyes as he startled upright, shaking the two (by now, sleepy) boys off him as he almost tripped over his own feet in his bid to get to Changbin.

_'I haven't even mentally prepared,'_ Felix explained his sudden panic to Changbin alone as he tried to quiet his racing heart and took deep breaths in.

"Hey, it's okay," Changbin murmured softly, only for Felix to hear. "You've gotten through this so far with an 100% survival rate. This one isn't going to kill your streak, I promise you."

Felix nodded once before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the floor again, lifeless. Chan and Jisung drew in loud, sharp breaths, obviously having not seen this happen before, and Changbin had to raise a hand and tell the two firmly not to touch Felix for a minute.

"Wait. This is normal. Leave him for a second whilst I re-cast the charm."

Chan and Jisung nodded with huge, terrified eyes as Changbin drew his wand and waved it.

"Protego maxima."

As usual, at once, life returned to Felix's form and his eyes rolled back to facing forward as he regained consciousness.

Normal routine that was still disturbing, but Changbin, at least, had become desensitised to it over the past few days.

Although, once Felix sat up- with a start, as usual- Changbin had honestly expected him to make a beeline for Chan or Jisung's hugs again, as logically, the two of them would provide much more comfort than Changbin himself... right?

Apparently not, as the first thing Felix did after regaining consciousness was lunge straight for Changbin, knocking him to the floor and straddling his lap comfortably as he buried his face in the crook of his neck as he regulated his breathing through exercises.

Changbin was sure that the disbelief and confusion written all over Jisung and Chan's expressions were mirrored on his own.

Although, he would admit that he considered this a huge victory.

Closing his eyes, Changbin forced himself to forget the fact that Chan and Jisung would probably be weighing up the way he comforted Felix against themselves as true protective best friends would do, and comforted Felix in the way he usually would, without an audience.

Merlin, what he would give to be able to turn off his legilimency for a few minutes. Chan and Jisung's incredulous thoughts were  _ not _ helping.

"I know that one in particular was more frightening than usual, but you're doing amazingly," Changbin whispered, holding Felix securely around his waist and stroking his hair. "You got through it again. You're doing amazingly, Lixie."

Felix drew in a breath, stuttering against Changbin's neck, and nodded mutely, his thoughts doing the talking for him.

"If it makes you feel any better, you should see the look on Chan and Jisung's faces right n ow," Changbin teased to lighten the mood. "Their thoughts are making me fear for my life."

This worked; as Felix giggled breathily as he pressed his forehead onto the warm skin of Changbin's neck.

' _ They're very protective.’ _

"I can tell," Changbin drawled, having started to subconsciously trace patterns into Felix's waist lightly; not enough to tickle. "Are you okay now?"

"Mmmm," Felix hummed against his neck, the vibrations making Changbin squirm slightly_. 'I'm comfy though.'_

"Lix, I can't leave the shop unattended," Changbin said, amused.

' _ Yes you can, _ ' came the cheeky thought reply.  _ 'just close up until Hyunjin and Jeongin come back.' _

"Even if I were to do that, I'd have to get up," Changbin argued reasonably.

Felix hummed again and rummaged around on the floor until he felt Changbin's wand, which he picked up and lazily waved in the general direction of the shop entrance.  _ 'Not anymore you don't.' _

Changbin blinked increduloudly. "You're impossible."

_ 'I am,' _ Felix agreed without hesitation,  _ 'but it's what you've signed up for now, Binnie.' _

And without hesitation, the freckled wizard fell asleep on Changbin.

"Lix? Lix, I-" Changbin craned his neck painfully to see whether Felix was bluffing sleep or not. But alas, his face matched the slackened stream of thoughts that fell muted when one was asleep; Felix had genuinely fallen asleep in the span of a few seconds- although really, Changbin couldn't blame him for his fatigue. He hadn't got any sleep these past few days, poor boy.

"He fell asleep," Changbin informed the two silent boys sat opposite them in the room. "He's barely gotten any sleep since this whole ordeal started... up every hour, and then having to calm down and live with the fear and paranoia? It's awful for him, I doubt he's slept two hours altogether."

"He's strong," Jisung commented, face blank. "So, so strong."

"Stronger than he looks," Changbin agreed. "By a long way."

"He obviously trusts you a lot already," Chan chimed in, expression suspicious. "Any idea why that is?"

Sighing, Changbin tried to reply as straightforwardly as possible. "I honestly have no idea. But I'm honoured, and have no intention of breaking the trust. I'm here to take care of him and protect him, nothing like what you're thinking."

Chan had the grace to at least look embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he amended. "It's just suspicious how he's already so comfortable and trusting around you after just a few days. It took Jisung and I... weeks and weeks, before he spoke around us, even less initiated physical affection."

"Well," Changbin guessed, "the circumstances are very different here, and so make for faster bonding, perhaps? In this situation, Felix is trusting me to awake every hour, remember every hour of my daily work and routine that he needs help, and deliver that help to him, as well as me comforting him after each ordeal. It probably seems very fast for him to trust me, but it had to happen to some extent."

"That's true," Jisung relented. "You seem like a trustworthy guy, Changbin."

"Thank you."

"We're just cautious because of his... muteness," Chan explained. "People have tried to... glamourise it, in the past, in a way. Try to be friends with the mute boy so they could brag to their other friends, yanno? It was kind of sick and it hurt him a lot."

Changbin was horrified. "That's disgusting," he said, subconsciously cradling the back of Felix's head with his hand as if it would protect him from the past. "Those people were assholes."

"Indeed they were," Jisung agreed wholeheartedly. "So now, Changbin, we too, are trusting you to take care of Felix and not hurt him in the same way those people did. Because if you do, we have experience with breaking bones."

Changbin blinked again. "Okay. I have no intention of doing so, though." This sounded vaguely similar to the way best friends would threaten their friends' significant other.

Chan smiled as Felix moved a little in his sleep; a tiny sound escaping his lips as he repositioned himself. 

“Good.”

Changbin felt awkward, honestly; he had nothing left to say as Chan and Jisung watched him and Felix silently. The urge to get up and run was overwhelming… but he couldn’t disturb the sleeping beauty in his lap. Wouldn’t. Refused to…. 

When were Hyunjin and Jeongin due to come back, for merlin’s sake? This was becoming painfully awkward. 

“He’s like a little baby when he sleeps,” Jisung cooed in a high pitch, making tiny finger hearts at the sleeping wizard. “Look at the Baby. I want to hold the baby.” 

Chan snorted quietly. “Don’t move him, Ji. He’ll wake up.” 

Jisung fake-pouted. “Okay.” 

Much to Changbin’s immense relief, the faint thoughts of Hyunjin and Jeongin started to become prominent in his mind as the two  _ finally  _ re-entered the shop, and by Merlin, Changbin had  _ never  _ felt so glad to hear their loved-up thoughts in his life. 

“We’re back, hyungie!” Jeongin popped his head into the back room, grinning brightly; eyes forming crescents. “Oh.. who are these people? And why is Felix asleep on you?” 

“Felix is WHAT?” Hyunjin’s head joined Jeongin’s through the gap between the door and the mischievous wizard grinned widely, making a sound of contentment in the back of his throat. 

The boy under everybody’s surveillance stirred awake at Hyunjin’s yelling and his face screwed up under the light spilling from a nearby lamp.

_ ‘What’s going on-’  _

“You just fell asleep, Lixie,” Jisung soothed, quick to dart forward on his hands and knees to run his hands through the mute boy’s hair and cooing at how Felix pushed into his hand like a cat. 

“... So do you want us to open the shop back up, hyung?” Jeongin interjected, eyes darting in uncertainty around the room, “Or can I introduce myself?”

“Oh! I’m Chan, and this is Jisung. We’re friends of Felix’s,” Chan gasped before introducing himself and the younger; looking scandalised at their rudeness. “Nice to meet you.”

“Hi! I’m Jeongin and I work part-time here, around my school schedule,” Jeongin beamed, before letting Hyunjin introduce himself.

“I’m Hyunjin and I work here full-time. We’re helping Felix get used to the shop and how everything works here too, as a distraction from everything that’s happening right now.”

“Waah, Felix working? He’s growing up,” Chan put a hand to his heart and pretended to fall back onto the floor. “I can tell he’s in good hands.”

“You say that like we won’t be coming back here everyday until Felix gets this curse lifted,” Jisung sang, now holding one of Felix’s hands in the air in front of his face, playing with the boy’s small fingers. Changbin shifted slightly and gently tipped Felix off his lap so that he could stand, sending the younger an apologetic look as he brushed himself off. 

“I have to re-open,” he explained. You three are more than welcome to stay in here and rest, though. Or you could go upstairs and use the more homely spaces.”

Reluctantly pulling himself out of the room despite hearing Felix’s protesting thoughts, Changbin re-opened the shop and took to rearranging vials on the shelf nearest the till again. 

“...hyung, what was that?” Hyunjin appeared from nowhere and approached his boss, grinning.

“I already told you, those are Felix’s friends and they came to check he was okay,” Changbin repeated. 

“No, I heard you. But I’ve never seen you let anyone hug you for more than a few seconds, let alone let anyone straddle you and fall asleep there,” Hyunjin practically sang, and Changbin could  _ feel _ his shit-eating grin from in front of him. 

“Of course I let him sleep on me, I’m not some heartless monster. It’s only been a while since we even met, and this whole situation is so complicated, stop overthinking it,” Changbin shot back, not pausing in his rearrangements.

“I feel like it’s you overthinking here, Changbinnie hyung,” Hyunjin’s eyes formed crescents to match his beaming smile. “Don’t say I never predicted it beforehand.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Changbin looked away to catch Jisung following Chan and Felix upstairs on the other side of the shop. “Okay.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok wow I had no idea i'd leave this fic for so long,, I don't actually know when I last updated? I've been writing bits for ages since I last updated but never actually posted anything because I was scared things were too waffle-y, but after re reading today I decided it was fine and I was just overthinking things, so here's an extra long chapter compared to my usual chapter lengths to make up for being gone for so long. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed, I'll try to be more consistent from now on! Ily all, stay hydrated <3


	7. Chapter seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lil bit of Changlix, and Jeongin Bestest Boy.

Two weeks passed quickly, and a routine was pretty much set in stone, purely out of both habit and the annoying, regimented hourly schedule that Changbin and Felix had to stick to for Felix’s sake. Every hour of the day, no matter what was happening, the two would inevitably disappear into either the back room of the shop, or wherever else was private and comforting to Felix, for Felix to be momentarily possessed by the imperius curse before Changbin could bring him back to himself again. 

And whilst it was taking a toll on Changbin too- his own magic was being drained 24/7 due to the strength of the charm plus keeping the shop up and running and getting just as little sleep as Felix; the younger was a lot worse off. The trauma of being literally possessed by an anonymous dark wizard every single hour and having to trust that Changbin could bring him back in time was exhausting, to the point where Felix was too drained to even perform much magic anymore. Whilst he was able to sleep a little better than the first week, the stress and anxiety that was linked to it had honestly left the blond wizard feeling weak to his bones.

At least he had been given a home from Changbin, though. Felix honestly had never been more grateful to somebody in his whole life, and dreaded to think of what would have happened if he had stumbled upon anyone who wasn’t changbin that fateful day. He could be dead by now, or still controlled by whichever wizard had him under their hold. It was terrifying to think about. 

Felix was also grateful to the raven-haired wizard for being so patient with his lack of speech- though his legilimency did come in handy- and for the amount of affection he was receiving from him. Felix was one who thrived off physical touch; needed it to survive and without it, he felt lost and vulnerable. The fact that Changbin never hesitated to offer physical contact and comfort whenever Felix needed it- which was a LOT, especially under such distressing circumstances- was a source of great relief and comfort to Felix, and he knew he would never be able to repay the elder wizard. 

Currently, he had just ‘woken’ after being revived for another hour, and as usual, Changbin was by his side, ready to offer whatever it was Felix needed or desired.

Feeling the now-familiar icy feeling spreading through his veins like slimy dread, Felix struggled to breathe properly and calm his heartbeat. _It’s fine, you’re fine,_ he chastised himself. _You’re fine. Stop being so cowardly. You should be used to this now, for Merlin’s sake._ He drew his arms around himself tightly, squeezing enough to feel the slight pain it brought. 

“Yah,” Changbin’s voice cut through his thoughts smoothly, like a hot knife through butter, “Stop thinking like that. You shouldn’t be used to it because this shouldn’t be happening to you. And stop hurting yourself like that, it’s unhealthy to ground yourself through pain. Come here.” He opened his arms and sat properly on the floor, allowing Felix to crawl into his arms and curl up; an often occurrence nowadays. 

“Thank you,” Felix mumbled aloud, feeling small and vulnerable. Changbin wrapped his arms tightly around the boy’s shivering form and rubbed his back with slow, circular motions. 

“Of course. Do you think you can sleep for a while?”

“Mn.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chan and Jisung had also been added to said routine now that they had first visited, and would come by the shop every day. Not at a set time, as sometimes one would wake up later than the other and set them back an hour or so; but even so, it was pleasant for everyone to have the two pop in when they felt like it, and it definitely helped Felix settle in faster, having some semblance of home with him. 

“Hey, Changbin-hyung,” Jeongin walked into the shop carrying the hugest, thickest book Changbin had ever seen in his arms, wheezing slightly under the weight of it before he slammed it with enthusiasm down onto the countertop. “I found something.” 

“What-”

“So I was doing some snooping, casually yanno, in the restricted section of the library in Hogwarts-”

“Rebellious, I like it,” Hyunjin popped his head out of the back room to chime in with a grin.

“- and I found a book on the forbidden curses. I haven’t had time to really look into it yet, but I thought maybe we could find something useful that could help Felix for the time being.” 

“Yang Jeongin, you are an angel,” Changbin exclaimed, grabbing the younger slightly roughly and pulling him into a grateful hug whilst the younger whined half-heartedly. “Thank you.” 

“Of course, hyungie!” Jeongin grinned, braces on full display. “Where _is_ Felix, by the way?” 

“Oh, he’s upstairs sleeping I think. Neither of us got much sleep last night.”

“Poor thing…” Hyunjin murmured. “Well, I’m on my break now, so I’ll start reading this dummy-thicc book Innie brought.” he left Jeongin with a fleeting kiss on the forehead and Changbin with a grin before stumbling back into the back room with the book under both arms. 

“Go join him, Innie,” Changbin cackled, hearing the younger’s thoughts. “The shop is quiet today anyway.” 

“Thank you hyung!” and Jeongin disappeared into the back room too. “We’ll let you know if we find anything.” 

***

“CHANGBIN-HYUNG WE FOUND SOMETHING,” Hyunjin raced through the shop, very nearly knocking over a whole shelf full of glass vials in the process and earning startled looks from the few customers dotted around the shop. “Sorry,” he apologised, quieter. “Changbin hyung. Come here. We found something.”

Changbin smiled easily at the customers and walked over to his panting employee, who was letting his thoughts do the talking due to their current lack of privacy. 

_‘We found that the imperius curse leaves some kind of trace on the recipient, so if we could find a way to trace it we could follow it back to the wizard that cursed Felix and get them to undo it.’ _

“Oh, perfect,” Changbin whispered, surprised. “But how do we find the trace?” 

“No clue! But that’s what we have so far,” Hyunjin said cheerfully, already retreating back into the staffroom to look for more information. “I’ll be back out in fifteen to cover for you.”

“Hey, Innie?” Hyunjin flitted back into the back room to the dark-haired Hogwarts student poring over the large book studiously. “Do you think any of your professors will have any idea on how to identify this kind of Trace? I bet it’ll be just like when you’re underage and still have the Trace of magic on you, right?” 

“I’m guessing it would be similar, yeah,” Jeongin agreed. “Hard to find but it is possible to track it… somehow. I could definitely ask one of my teachers later.”

“Hang on,” Hyunjin held a hand in the air absent-mindedly, “OH, wait wait wait, w-a-i-t… LOOK. right here, here,” excitedly waving a finger at a vague section of a page and earning a whack to the arm. 

“Clearer please, sherlock,” Jeongin teased.

“There.”

**Traces of dark magic can be found linking the victim and caster by brewing a Lyrosman potion. Instructions are overleaf. **

“What the shit is a Lyrosman potion?” Hyunjin stressed loudly. “It sounds poisonous.”

“You need unicorn hair, moondew and ashwinder eggs, to name only a few,” Jeongin murmured, fingers tracing the instructions. “This looks complex.” 

“I sucked at potions last year in Hogwarts,” Hyunjin complained. “I’ll be of no help.”

“I’m good at potions, but I’m not allowed to leave Hogwarts overnight, and this potion has instructions to brew for three days straight,” Jeongin mused. “There’s no way I could get permission to leave for three days in the middle of term.” 

“Do you reckon Chan or Jisung will be good at potion brewing? Or Felix?” 

“Or Changbin? He’s a very powerful wizard in himself,” Jeongin countered. “Speaking of, we need to go cover for him for a few minutes.” 

The two exited the back room, heads full of thoughts and queries as Changbin shot them a grateful look before slipping away upstairs to re-charm Felix. The two couldn’t discuss any further as it was around midday; the shop was at its busiest. 

Either way, both boys were determined to find a way to brew this potion for Felix. 

\----------------------------------

“Hey, Professor,” Jeongin greeted his herbology professor upon stumbling across them in the corridor, “Do you have time for me to ask a few questions about a potion I’ve been reading about?”

“If it’s potions you’re talking about, wouldn’t it be a better idea to ask your potions teacher?” his teacher- Professor Kang, fretted. “Herbology is my forte.”

“No, I was wondering more about the properties of each ingredient for a potion and if you knew a lot about what happens when they are mixed together ,” Jeongin stated. 

“Oh, in that case- fire away,” Professor Kang smiled, opening the door to his classroom and waving Jeongin in, both of them settling beside a row of Mandrakes before Jeongin spoke any further. “I’ll see what I can do.” 

“It’s about ingredients for a Lyrosman potion,” Jeongin said hesitantly, hyper aware of any changes in his professor’s demeanour that would mean anything bad. As he had half expected, Professor Kang jolted a little in his inspection of each plant, eyes widening noticeably.

“Why are you asking about that particular potion, Jeongin?” he asked sternly. “Such an advanced potion is hardly taught even in higher education, never mind in a high school.” 

“Uhh…” Jeongin half-laughed nervously. “Purely hypothetical, professor. I just found the potion interesting when reading about it and wanted to look further into the ingredients. Extra studies, you know?”

Professor Kang clearly didn’t buy his half-assed explanation but relaxed anyway, launching into detailed explanations of each ingredient and their side effects when used in the potion for Jeongin to mentally file away and relay back to Changbin and Hyunjin the next day. Thank god for teachers, eh? 

“I’ll see you in class on Tuesday, Jeongin,” professor Kang waved the last-year student out of his classroom an hour or so later. “And be careful.” his eyes glistened with concern.

Jeongin’s face melted into a smile at that, knowing his professor knew full well that his sudden interest in that one specific potion was not at all hypothetical. “I will, professor. Thank you again.” The real reason he had gone to his herbology professor and not potions is because he knew, if he had consulted his potions professor knew how dangerous this potion was, and would have told the headmaster at once. Jeongin wasn’t going to risk losing his permission to leave the school grounds to help his friend just because of a little danger to his well-being. Imagine. 

Well, either way, Jeongin now felt confident that even though he couldn’t be present for the entire making of the potion, he at least possessed more helpful knowledge to help everyone along as best he could whilst he was there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JEONGIN BEST BOY AGENDA I DONT MAKE THE RULES  
Also idk shit abt potions so I made up the lyrosman potion! any correlation between this and any other copyrighted works is entirely coincidental etc etc <3  
I promised myself I'd have updated this two days prior but., I didn't!! but im here now!! thank you to everyone whos been so patient with my slow updates dbefuefguieffee,, I hope youre all still here and enjoying this fic!  
remember to take care of yourselves and stay hydrated. and thank you for reading!!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope this satisfied your wizarding changlix feels for today!


End file.
